A relationship beyond friendship — but not beyond a few hard questions

IN his speech to the US Congress, Bertie Ahern said America and Ireland had something that goes beyond friendship between countries.

One could be forgiven for thinking that as leader of the Irish government, he therefore felt he had permission to act in support of American interests without questioning their acceptability to the Irish people.

In particular, he seemed to think it allowed him to turn a blind eye to their use of our airports for the illegal and inhumane rendition of prisoners. Our Government insists it can rely on US ‘assurances’ that Ireland has not been, and will not be, used for rendition purposes.